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Wine-Braised Short Ribs with Cocoa and Star Anise – Recipe

January 1, 2013 / / 0 Comments

This year – 2012 – short ribs were eatured as the main dish on my Christmas Eve dinner table.  I love short ribs and I couldn’t think of anything else to make for this dinner.  Of course, I had to try a new recipe because I wasn’t in love with any of the ones I made before, plus I always like trying new things.

I think this recipe was quite successful.  I’m not ready to say it was the best short rib recipe I’ve ever made, but it definitely was tasty and the sauce was delicious – both with the short ribs and the garlic mashed potatoes I served it with.  The sauce was definitely rich and well balanced.  The ribs, btw, were succulent and fall-off-the-bone tender.  Regardless of what recipe I use in the future, I will cook them in this manner.

I made the short ribs the day before, not only because I don’t want to be crazy cooking on Christmas Eve, but because braised short-ribs are always better the next day.

I got this recipe from Chuck Hughes of the Cooking Channel (I had never heard of either, I found it through Google) and I modified it slightly.  I used a roasting pan for this dish, as I had nothing else that was large enough for the ribs and veggies.  I placed it on the stove over two burners.

It will serve 6 people.

Ingredients

  • 8 meaty short ribs
  • coarse salt
  • flour for dredging
  • canola oil
  • 4 large onions, coarsely chopped
  • 5 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
  • 5 carrots, peeled and cut into 2″ cylinders
  • 8 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half
  • 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 star anise
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 bottles red wine
  • 3 Tbsp. cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. peppercorns
  • 2 Tbsp butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Trim excess fat from the ribs.  Season well with coarse salt.  Dredge in flour.

Coat the bottom of a roasting pan with Canola oil and place on the stove over medium-high heat.  When hot, add the short ribs and brown on all sides.  Remove and set aside.

Add the onions, celery, carrots, garlic, rosemary, thyme, star anise and cinnamon sticks to the pan.  Cook until they caramelize, stirring frequently.  Return meat to the pan and pour wine over the ribs.  If they are not completely covered, top with water.

Mix in cocoa power, brown sugar and peppercorns and bring to a boil.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil, put in the oven, and cook for 3 hours.

Carefully remove ribs, and set aside.  Strain out the braising liquid into a large cooking pot.   Discard the veggies.

Place the pot on the stove and boil over medium-high heat until the liquid is reduced by about 1/3rd.  Return the short ribs to the pot.  Cool and then refrigerate until the next day.

When ready to reheat (30 to 60 minutes before serving), place the pot on the stove over medium heat and cook uncover until the liquid starts boiling.  Stir to make sure the short ribs are moist all over.  Cover and turn the heat down to a simmer.

Five minutes before serving, remove the ribs and place on the serving platter.  Cover with a kitchen towel to keep warm.  Taste the liquid, adjust seasoning and reduce further if needed to make it more intense.  Add butter and serve with the ribs or on the side.

Marga’s 2012 Christmas Eve Dinner

Ropa Vieja recipe

November 14, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Ropa Vieja, a very simple dish of beef in a tomato wine sauce, is one of my all time favorite dishes.  Indeed, it’s a favorite of several members of my family, my sister asks me to make it every time she visits.  I don’t quite understand how so few ingredients – the only seasoning on this dish is salt and bay leaves – can have such an amazing result, but it does.  Fortunately for me, ropa vieja was one of the first dishes I discovered when I first started cooking, so I’ve been able to enjoy it for almost two decades.  I used to serve it over white rice, but I actually prefer it with sourdough bread, though French bread is good too.  The one problem this dish has is that it’s really hard to avoid eating the meat as you shred it.

Ropa Vieja

Ingredients

  • 3lb to 4lb chuck roast
  • salt
  • oil
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 15oz can tomato sauce
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 2 bay leaves

Instructions

Sprinkle salt on all sides of the roast.  Heat a very thin layer of oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the roast and brown on all sides.  Add one cup of water, turn down the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 2 to 3 hours or until cooked through.  Turn off the heat and let cool down in the broth, covered.

Once the beef is cool enough to handle, shred the whole roast by hand, discarding hard pieces of fat.  Mix the broth from the pot with the beef and set aside.

Wipe clean the pot you used and add another thin layer of oil.  Heat over medium heat and then add the onions.  Cook until soft, add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.  Add the bell pepper and cook for five more minutes.  Mix in the beef, tomato sauce, red wine and bay leaves.  Season with salt to taste.  Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.

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Flat Iron steak

August 1, 2011 / / 1 Comment

Flat iron steak is a newish cut in America that has become popular at posh restaurants.  There are only 4 flat iron steaks per cow, so it’s not a cut that you can often find at supermarkets (though Safeway sell them pre-packaged).  They were on sale for $4 lb at Lucky’s this week so I bought some for dinner.  Mika loved them.  Though they had a thick piece of connecting tissue in the middle, the steaks themselves are very tender.  They are not terribly flavorful, however, though a good sauce can take care of that.  At $4 lb, they are a great alternative to filet mignon.

I grilled them on the BBQ grill outside and they are quick and easy to prepare: pre-heat the grill on medium-high, salt & pepper the steaks, brush with olive oil, grill on each side for 4 minutes for medium rare, let rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

I’ll definitely buy this cut again when it’s available at this price.

Hart Orange Beef – Review

July 15, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Orange Beef is the latest product from Hart Food Products, a small mom & pop frozen food company that seems to mostly distribute through Grocery Outlet.  I had tried their Orange Chicken before and I had been less that impressed, but it was another kidless night when I didn’t want to cook and, if nothing else, the Hart Orange Beef ($4 for the 2+lb package) seemed like a good value.  So I decided to give it a try.

Like the chicken, this product consists of small pieces of beef heavily battered.  You sauté them on some oil for about 12 minutes, stirring often, heat up the orange sauce in a different sauce pan, and then mix it in with the beef.  It’s not too complicated, but it does use up two cooking pots (not good for those of us without dishwashers).

The results are mediocre. The beef has way too much breading and it was too oily (I’d recommend using a non-stick pan and only minimal oil when cooking them), the sauce wasn’t painfully sweet but I grew sick of it quickly. In all I think I’ll steer clear of Hart products.

Petite sirloin steak @ Safeway

May 13, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Safeway had value packs of “petite sirloin steak” for sale this week at $3lb (a dollar less than top sirloin), so I figured I’d buy some. I wasn’t too sure what “petite sirloin steak” was, but a google search showed that this cut is also known as “sirloin tips”, “round tips”, “flap steak” or “flap meat”. It’s the part of the round that’s right next to the sirloin. The pieces at Safeway consisted of small, thick steaks, with a layer of fat on one edge.
I used them to make Beef Stroganoff. This required me to cut the petite sirloins into thin strips and then pan fry them on some oil. I was surprised at how tender the results were: perhaps not as tender as a tenderloin, but definitely more tender than a sirloin or similar steak. For this purpose, this was an ideal cut. Flavor-wise I wasn’t too thrilled with it, it wasn’t as gamy as I’d like it, but you don’t need much flavor when you have a sauce like Stroganoff. I’ll definitely buy this cut again when it’s on sale to use in dishes where I want tenderness for cheap.

Steak w/ cognac sauce

February 24, 2011 / / 0 Comments

I made this recipe a few days ago to go with some leftover top sirloin I had. While I’m usually the type of person who does not like sauces with my red meat – I’d never dream of using anything besides salt with a NY steak or a ribeye – I don’t find top sirloin to be that tasty by itself. This sauce was quick to make and delicious. As usual, I got the recipe at epicurious.com

My main adaptation was using “Better than Bouillon” bases and reducing the amount of water. You can use broth cubes/granules in the same proportions. This sauce is enough for two steaks plus whatever starch you are serving with them.

    -2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
    -2 shallots, chopped
    -1 tsp. brown sugar
    -3/4 cup water
    -1 tsp. Chicken broth base
    -1/2 tsp. Beef broth base
    -1/2 cup Cognac or Brandy
    -1/4 cup whipping cream
    -2 steaks
    -salt & pepper

Sauté shallots until tender on 1 Tbsp of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar and cook for 1 minute. Add the broths, the broth bases and the cognac. Mix well and cook until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 10 minutes. Mix in the whipping cream and set aside.

Sprinkle steaks with salt. Melt 1 Tbsp. of butter on a heavy skillet or frying pan. Add the steaks and cook over medium-heat, about 4 minutes per side. Remove. Add the sauce to the skillet and warm up, scrapping any browned bits. Season with salt and pepper.

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Beef Stroganoff – recipe

August 10, 2010 / / 0 Comments

I had some steak and sour cream I had to use up, so I decided to make beef stroganoff based on this epicurious.com recipe. I made a few substitutions, most importantly sour cream for the whipped cream, and the results were excellent. Mika, however, did not like how sour it was, so if I make it again, I’d use whipped cream.

Beef Stroganoff is usually served on egg noodles, I used whatever pasta shape I had around.

July 2011 Update I just made this dish again, this time using whipped cream and doubling the ingredients of the sauce.  That was a good idea, as otherwise there wouldn’t be enough cream. The results were wonderful again, less sour than before. I’ll make it again (doubling the sauce from the recipe below)

Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients

  • 2 lbs steak
  • salt to taste
  • 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 2 Tbsp. butter
  • 1/2 onion or 1 large shallot, finely chopped
  • 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 2 Tbsp. cognac or brandy
  • 3/4 cup sour cream or whipping cream
  • 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • sprinkle of dried dill

Directions

Pat dry the meat and cut into thin, short strips. Sprinkle with salt.

Heat the oil over high heat in a deep frying pan. Working in batches, add a layer of beef and cook on both sides until medium rare, about 1 minute per side. Remove beef and repeat with leftover beef. Remove beef, place in a plate, cover and set aside.

Turn heat to medium-high and add 2 Tbsp. butter. Wait until it melts and add the chopped onion. Cook until tender.

Add the mushroom slices, and sauté until the mushrooms are soft and the liquid evaporates, around 12 minutes.

Add the beef broth and stir. Add the brandy, stir and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer uncovered until the liquid thickens and coats the mushrooms – 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the cream and mustard.

Return the meat to the frying pan, as well as any liquid that accumulated on the plate. Mix and simmer over medium-low heat until the meat is warm, about 2 minutes.

Sprinkle with dill and serve over pasta.

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Flat Iron Steak @ Safeway

March 7, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Safeway is now selling fresh flank steak, skirt steak and flat iron steak in vacuum packages – with expiration dates of a month or two in the future. I’m glad that they are available (these cuts have been hard to find at our local Safeway in the past), but I wish they were sold at more reasonable prices. These are supposed to be cheap cuts of meat, after all, but Safeway sells them at $6.50lb! You can often get rib eye steak at Safeway for less than that.
I tried their “Ranchers Reserve” flat iron steak tonight in a recipe for Maple and Soy-Glazed Flank Steak (they didn’t have any flank steak). I wasn’t happy with the recipe, the flavors were very tame, but the meat itself was incredibly tender – some of the most tender meat I’ve ever eaten. It’s not surprising, as flat iron steaks are supposed to be second only to beef tenderloin in tenderness. But I’m more of a “flavor” person than a “tenderness” person, so this cut didn’t really win me over.
One thing that did annoy me was how uneven the two “steaks” were cut. They range in thickness from about 1/6″ to 1 1/2″.
I probably won’t buy this cut again, just because of the lack of flavor, but I will give the skirt steak and the flank steak a try sometime.

Safeway’s Tri-Tip

September 10, 2006 / / 2 Comments

Last night, and agains today for lunch, we had “Rancher’s Reserve” tri-tip, grilled on the BBQ. Rancher’s Reserve is select grade meat (i.e. fit for human consumption) that for whatever reason is supposed to be more tender than it should. And indeed it is. Flavor wise it’s clearly inferior to Costco’s choice meat, but it is probably just as tender. I’d probably buy it again if I couldn’t get Costco beef.

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